Climate Change

The urgency of addressing human causes of climate change has long been apparent. To amplify this issue that's paramount to us all, KPBS has launched a Climate Change Desk to step up our coverage of this existential threat including reported stories and interviews with experts and newsmakers.

International

PHOTOS: A third of Pakistan is under water in catastrophic floods

Hannah Bloch

Peter DiCampo

Some 33 million people are affected by this summer's floods — the result of what U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres calls a "monsoon on steroids." He calls the flooding a "climate catastrophe."
National

Homelessness is aggravating harm caused by the Phoenix heat, medical personnel say

Katherine Davis-Young

Phoenix gets more triple-digit temperatures than any other major U.S. city, and heat deaths have more than quadrupled since 2015, records show. Officials say it's because of homelessness.
National

Drought threatens coal plant operations — and electricity — across the West

Julia Simon

The Western drought and shrinking Colorado River basin threaten operations at the region's coal plants. With a looming risk of blackouts, it's unclear who is overseeing this threat on the ground.
Environment

The window to protect Big Bear from wildfire is shrinking

Caleigh Wells / KCRW, George LeVines / The California Newsroom

The U.S. Forest Service knows it needs to set prescribed burns on thousands of acres in Big Bear. This year, it's only burned 20.
Local

California moves toward phasing out gas-fueled vehicles

Kathleen Ronayne

The move gives the most populous U.S. state the world’s most stringent regulations for transitioning to electric vehicles.
Science & Technology

Tim Barnett, prominent San Diego climate researcher, dies

Erik Anderson

Barnett, the scientist responsible for work that makes computer climate models accurate forecasting tools, died at the age of 83 at his La Jolla home.
Renewable energy is maligned by misinformation. It's a distraction, experts say

Laura Benshoff

The new climate spending package boosts wind and solar power to clean up the country's electricity grid. But these efforts face an ongoing misinformation campaign.
Local

Wildfire sweeps through Pine Valley area

City News Service

A wildfire burned over swaths of rugged hilly terrain in the Pine Valley area Monday, blackening dozens of acres but posing no immediate structural threats as ground and airborne crews worked to subdue the flames.
Environment

In a flood-ravaged Tennessee town, uncertainty hangs over the recovery

Damon Mitchell

It's been one year since a flood tore through Waverly, Tenn., and killed 20 people. There's been lots of effort to rebuild, but it's still unclear if the town will ever be the same.
Local

California desert parks still working to repair flood damage

The Associated Press

Timelines for repairs of flash flood damage to roads in California’s vast desert wilderness parks are being extended even as monsoonal rains cause new problems along with unseasonal plant and animal activity.